Natural Wonders of Sri Lanka

Home , Bundala National Park, Dambulla, Hakgala Botanical Garden, Monolith, Udawalawe National Park, Yala National Park

NATURAL WONDERS OF SRI LANKA

March 20 – April 6, 2020 | 18 Days | Wildlife Adventure

SRI LANKA Expedition Highlights

• Search for abundant wildlife in Yala Dambulla Polonnaruwa National Park, which boasts Asia’s largest concentration of leopards, along with Asian elephants, spotted deer, and Kandy over 200 species of birds.

Colombo • Discover the UNESCO World Heritage Nuwara Eliya HORTON Sites of Sigiriya, an ancient palace and PLAINS YALA fortress built atop a huge granite NATIONAL Sinharaja PARK monolith; the ruins in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka’s medieval capital; and the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, a significant site of BUNDALA NATIONAL PARK pilgrimage for Buddhists. Galle MAP NOT TO SCALE Mirissa • Explore Sinharaja, a vast tropical rainforest that is home to over half of POLONNARUWA Sri Lanka’s endemic species of flora and fauna. • Stay in superb accommodations—from a colonial-era mansion to world-class game lodges—offering splendid vistas of the surrounding wilderness.

• Itinerary...... page 2 > • Flight Information ...... page 3 > • Meet Your Leader ...... page 4 > • Rates...... page 4 >

Mark Brazil Mark • Know Before You Go...... page 4 > LEOPARD Wednesday, March 25 SINHARAJA Spend a full day exploring this stunning park, searching for such spectacular creatures as Sri Lanka junglefowl (the national bird), yellow-fronted barbet, the bizarre red-faced malkoha, and the Sri Lanka blue magpie.

Thursday, March 26 SINHARAJA / YALA NATIONAL PARK Today, head east, descending into the lowlands of Yala, Sri Lanka’s most celebrated national park. Stop for lunch in Udawalawe National Park, with a chance to search for wild elephants in the afternoon. Arrive at Yala and check in to the Flameback Eco Lodge, your base for three nights. Itinerary Friday, March 27 Based on the expeditionary nature of our trips, there may be ongoing YALA NATIONAL PARK enhancements to this itinerary. Take morning and afternoon safaris into Yala. With over 100,000 hectares of thorn scrub and coastal wetlands, this park boasts the highest density of leopards in Asia. It Friday & Saturday, March 20 & 21, 2020 is also home to healthy populations of wild water buffalo, DEPART USA / EN ROUTE Asian elephants, and spotted deer. In the afternoon, visit the Board your independent flight to Sri Lanka. Lose a day wetlands of Tissa to seek out colorful wetland birds including crossing the International Date Line. storks, egrets, herons, and kingfishers.

Sunday, March 22 Saturday, March 28 COLOMBO, SRI LANKA YALA NATIONAL PARK / LUNUGAMVEHERA NATIONAL PARK Arrive in Colombo in the very early morning and transfer to After breakfast, visit nearby Lunugamvehera National Park, an the Gateway Airport Garden Hotel. After a welcome lunch and important habitat for water birds and elephants. Leopards are briefing, take a stroll around the hotel grounds to search for also a possibility here. Return to Yala for an afternoon safari. common birds, butterflies, and dragonflies.

Sunday, March 29 Monday, March 23 YALA NATIONAL PARK / BUNDALA NATIONAL PARK / COLOMBO / GALLE / MIRISSA NUWARA ELIYA After breakfast, depart overland for historic Galle. Take After breakfast drive to nearby Bundala National Park, famous a walking tour of Galle’s historic district, one of the best- for its concentrations of shorebirds and waterbirds. Resident preserved examples of a European-built fortified city in South storks and fish eagles are joined by migrant shorebirds, terns, Asia, including Galle Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and ospreys, while the surrounding thorn bush supports built by the Dutch in the 16th century. After lunch at a local chestnut-headed and green bee-eaters, as well as Sri restaurant, continue to Mirissa and check in to the beachside Lanka woodshrikes. After lunch venture into Sri Lanka’s “Hill Mandara Resort with the rest of the day at leisure. Country.” Your final destination, Nuwara Eliya, is known locally as “Little England,” a hill station that was once home to over 200 British families. Dinner and overnight for two nights at the Tuesday, March 24 splendid St. Andrew’s Hotel. MIRISSA / SINHARAJA This morning, board a local boat for a whale-watching excursion. After lunch, a scenic drive brings you to the fabled TEA PLANTATION Sinharaja Biosphere Reserve. Sri Lanka’s single most important conservation area, Sinharaja protects the largest remaining area of tropical forest on the island. An incredible two-thirds of the plants in the forest are found nowhere else on earth, along with all but one of Sri Lanka’s endemic bird species. Dinner and overnight for two nights at the Rainforest Edge Resort.

ZEGRAHM EXPEDITIONS | NATURAL WONDERS OF SRI LANKA < 2 > SRI LANKA Friday, April 3 BLUE MAGPIE DAMBULLA / POLONNARUWA This morning, tour the magnificent ruined city of Polonnaruwa. A former Buddhist kingdom, Polonnaruwa is famous for its intricately carved stonework, including a large reclining Buddha.

Saturday, April 4 DAMBULLA / SIGIRIYA

© Mark Brazil Today, visit Sigiriya, or Lion Rock, a huge granite monolith rising out of the jungle. This stunning World Heritage Site Monday, March 30 features the ruins of a 5th-century fortress and palace, colorful murals, and the remains of an extensive network of gardens, NUWARA ELIYA / HORTON PLAINS Depart before dawn to appreciate the beauty of early morning reservoirs, and fountains. In the afternoon board jeeps to at Horton Plains, a grassy highland plateau studded with search the surrounding forest for troops of endemic toque rhododendrons and surrounded by cool, mossy forests. macaques, Sri Lanka gray hornbills, and Asian elephants. Wildlife found here includes sambar deer, grizzled giant squirrels, and the endemic purple-faced leaf monkey. Also keep an eye out for avian endemics such as the yellow-eared Sunday & Monday, April 5 & 6 bulbul, Sri Lanka white-eye, and the Sri Lanka whistling-thrush. DAMBULLA / COLOMBO / USA Return to Nuwara Eliya for lunch, then spend the afternoon Rise early this morning for one last birding excursion on the strolling through the lovely Hakgala Botanical Garden. grounds of the hotel. En route to Colombo make a stop at the Golden Temple of Dambulla. Check in to the Gateway Airport Garden Hotel for dinner and a chance to relax. Board your Tuesday, March 31 independent late evening flight, arriving in the USA the next day. NUWARA ELIYA / KANDY Rise early this morning to search for a multitude of over- wintering migrants in leafy Victoria Park. After breakfast, depart for Kandy, stopping en route to visit a tea plantation to learn about the production of world-famous Ceylon tea. Arrive Flight Information in Kandy in time for lunch, then spend a relaxing afternoon in the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens. Check in to Tree of Life Hotel You will need to purchase airfare from your home city/Colombo and for dinner and overnight. Colombo/home city. Please contact our in-house Air Department for fare quotes, reservations, or other air-related questions.

Wednesday, April 1 SIGIRIYA KANDY This morning take a stroll through the extensive natural forest surrounding our accommodations, then take a tour of the Paradeniya Botanical Gardens. This afternoon tour the Temple of the Tooth, said to house a tooth of Buddha. This World Heritage Site was originally part of the Royal Palace complex of the Kandyan Kingdom, and is one of the holiest places of worship and pilgrimage for Buddhists around the world. Enjoy afternoon tea at the Oak Ray Tearoom, then attend a performance of classic Kandian dance.

Thursday, April 2 KANDY / DAMBULLA After breakfast, depart overland to the heart of Sri Lanka’s “cultural triangle.” Stop at a local batik factory, and enjoy lunch at Ranweli Spice Garden, where you will learn about the cultivation of exotic spices such as turmeric, cloves, vanilla, cardamom, and more. Arrive in Dambulla this evening and check in to the Kandalama Hotel for dinner and overnight.

ZEGRAHM EXPEDITIONS | NATURAL WONDERS OF SRI LANKA < 3 > Meet Your Expedition Leader

MARK BRAZIL – Mark’s fascination with the natural world, especially birds and mammals, began during his boyhood in Worcestershire and was developed further by national and international adventures while a student in England and Scotland. Ornithological research, natural history consultancy for TV companies, and guiding naturalists and wildlife photographers, have taken him to all continents. Mark first visited Sri Lanka in 2010, spending a month scouting the country and reveling in this small island nation’s history, archaeology, architecture, culture, and of course its prolific bird- and wildlife; he has led Zegrahm’s Sri Lanka expedition since 2014. Mark has traveled very widely in Asia since the early 1980s and in South Asia since the mid 1980s, making more than 25 visits to the region. He has traveled very widely in South Asia, especially India, but also in Nepal and Bhutan. Mark has been based in Hokkaido, Japan since 1998, having previously lived in New Zealand. In addition to being a field naturalist, he is a prolific writer. Mark’s books include Wild Asia: Spirit of a Continent, The Birds of Japan (the definitive text of bird biology and distribution in the Japanese archipelago), the monograph The Whooper Swan, A Field Guide to the Birds of East Asia, The Nature of Japan: From Dancing Crane to Flying Fish, and most recently Birds of Japan.

Rates

$10,980 per person, double occupancy $13,680 per person, single occupancy Limited to 14 expedition members.

INCLUDED: NOT INCLUDED: • All accommodations • Airfare from your home city/Colombo and Colombo/home city • All excursions in the company of a world-class expedition • Excess baggage charges leader and local guides • Airport arrival and departure taxes • All gratuities • Transfers for independent arrivals and departures • All transportation • Passport and/or visa fees • All group meals, including selected beverages with lunch and dinner • Travel insurance • All entrance fees • Items of a personal nature such as laundry, alcoholic beverages (other than listed at left), and other incidentals • Arrival and departure transfers on group dates • Email/Internet/fax/telephone charges • Gift certificates for recommended expedition gear • Medical expense coverage and emergency evacuation insurance

A 25% per person deposit will secure your space on this expedition. All rates are per person, quoted in US dollars, and must be paid in US dollars. Rates and itineraries are subject to change. Please review our Terms & Conditions online at www.zegrahm.com/terms, or call our office for a printed copy.

Know Before You Go This is a journey for experienced travelers only. The primary focus of this trip is wildlife viewing with a good dash of local culture, archaeology, and history. Participants should be aware that the infrastructure in Sri Lanka is poorly developed, and occasional delays and amendments to the program can occur. Some days will be long, with bus rides over bumpy roads, and may require sitting for long periods. This is an active itinerary; you must be able to walk one to three miles over uneven terrain, including trails that may be steep and slippery with exposed rock and roots. Please note that you will encounter stairs that are uneven and without handrails. Though you will visit Sri Lanka during the dry season, please be aware that precipitation is possible, especially in rainforest areas. Temperatures along the coast will range from the low to high 80s°F with high humidity. Temperatures will range from the low to mid-70s°F in the highlands, with cooler temperatures at night.

To reserve, visit www.zegrahm.com/sri-lanka or contact your travel consultant. < 4